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| | ''The New York Times,'' March 8, 2003, p. B6; representative quoted is Rev. Don Peter Fleetwood, who "helped draft a Vatican document on New Age phenomena."</ref> | | ''The New York Times,'' March 8, 2003, p. B6; representative quoted is Rev. Don Peter Fleetwood, who "helped draft a Vatican document on New Age phenomena."</ref> |
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| − | Harry Potter has inspired hundreds of thousands of children across the globe to learn to love to read. The Harry Potter novels, particularly the later ones, are long. The 870 pages of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," even though printed in large type, contain 255,000 words—about twice as long as ''A Tale of Two Cities.'' The "Lexile" measure of reading level puts the series between 880L and 950L,<ref>For comparison: Charlotte's Web 680L, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 890L, Moby Dick 1200L</ref> comparable to sixth-grade texts<ref>[http://www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=fa&tabindex=4&tabid=22 The Lexile framework for reading].</ref> | + | Harry Potter has inspired hundreds of thousands of children across the globe to learn how to cast vile magic spells and perform satanic rituals that involve hot underage sex and the sacrifice of goats, lambs, people, orangutans, fruits, breakfast cereals and countless other poor innocent things. The Harry Potter novels, particularly the later ones, are long. The 870 pages of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," even though printed in large type, contain 255,000 words—about twice as long as ''A Tale of Two Cities.'' The "Lexile" measure of reading level puts the series between 880L and 950L,<ref>For comparison: Charlotte's Web 680L, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 890L, Moby Dick 1200L</ref> comparable to sixth-grade texts<ref>[http://www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=fa&tabindex=4&tabid=22 The Lexile framework for reading].</ref> |
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| − | Some expect childrens' literature to present characters that are idealized role models, and to teach simple, explicit life lessons. However, like other classics of children's literature, the world of Harry Potter is one in which adult authority figures are complex, imperfect, and occasionally ludicrous (as they are in ''Alice in Wonderland.'') Harry himself, while basically a "good" person, is sometimes petty-minded, jealous, or just plain mischievous (like Tom Sawyer, or Holden Caulfield). Although the students at Hogwarts take their studies seriously, they are not above cheating or goofing off, and some of their teachers are boring or outright incompetent. | + | Some expect childrens' literature to present characters that are idealized role models, and to teach simple, explicit life lessons. However, like other classics of children's literature, the world of Harry Potter is one in which adult authority figures are complex, imperfect, and occasionally ludicrous (as they are in ''Alice in Wonderland.'') Harry himself, while basically a "good" person, is sometimes petty-minded, jealous, or just plain mischievous (like Tom Sawyer, or Holden Caulfield). Although the students at Hogwarts take their studies seriously, they are not above cheating or goofing off, and some of their teachers are boring or outright incompetent. This obviously has influenced children everywhere to be out right jerks. |
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| | On July 20, 2005, at [[Prime Minister's Questions], the Right Honourable [[Tony Blair]], Prime Minister at the time, joined the [[House of Commons]] in lauding [[J.K. Rowling]] for her contribution to the education of British young minds. | | On July 20, 2005, at [[Prime Minister's Questions], the Right Honourable [[Tony Blair]], Prime Minister at the time, joined the [[House of Commons]] in lauding [[J.K. Rowling]] for her contribution to the education of British young minds. |